1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to comparing the performance of refining, petrochemical, power generating, distribution, and other industrial facilities.
More specifically, the invention relates to determining the equivalency factors that enable performance measurements and equitable benchmarking of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; which include, but are not limited to, carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (O3), water (H2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs); from a facility to a form that can be directly compared to the GHG production from another facility that has different characteristics for the purposes of allocating GHG emission allowances for permits, licenses, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Negative environmental and health effects, such as global warming, smog, and respiratory problems in humans caused by the emission of harmful pollutants such as carbon dioxide (CO2), have resulted in countries, states, and territories throughout the world regulating the amount of emissions permitted by businesses and industries. Some scientists claim that the CO2 emissions are causing global warming under the theory that the emissions create a green house effect. The source of these and other emission pollutants can come from a myriad of industries, including: energy industries, such as public electricity and heat production, petroleum refining, and the manufacturing of solid fuels. Various countries have agreed to reduce their CO2 emissions under the Kyoto Treaty.
The Kyoto Treaty commits industrialized nations to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, principally CO2, by around 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the next decade. To come into force, the treaty needs to be ratified by countries who are responsible for at least 55% of the world's CO2 emissions. The agreement was dealt a severe blow in March 2001 when the United States announced it will not join.
A scaled-down version was drawn up four months later and finalized at climate talks in Bonn in Germany in 2002. The treaty now only needs Russian ratification to come into force. If and when the revised treaty takes effect in 2008, it will require all signatories, including 39 industrialized countries, to achieve different emission reduction targets. With that aim, it will provide a complex system which will allow some countries to buy emission credits from others. For instance, a country in western Europe might decide to buy rights or credits to emit carbon from one in eastern Europe which could not afford the fuel that would emit the carbon in the first place. The Bonn agreement also reduced cuts to be made to emissions of six gases believed to be exacerbating global warming—from the original treaty's 5.2% to 2%.
Simplistic methods, such as GHG/tonne or bbl have been used in the past to determine emission allocation. However, such methods tend to be misleading and sometimes penalize efficient facilities.